marsupialany of more than 250 species belonging to the infraclass Metatheria (sometimes called Marsupialia), a mammalian group characterized by premature birth and continued development of the newborn while attached to the nipples on the lower belly of the mother. The pouch, or marsupium, from which the group takes its name, is a flap of skin covering the nipples. Although prominent in many species, it is not a universal feature—in some species the nipples are fully exposed or are bounded by mere remnants of a pouch. The young remain firmly attached to the milk-giving teats for a period corresponding roughly to the latter part of development of the fetus in the womb of a placental mammal (eutherian).

The largest and most varied assortment of marsupials—some 200 species—is found in Australia, New Guinea, and neighbouring islands, where they make up most of the native mammals found there. In addition to the larger species such as kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and the koala, there are numerous smaller forms, many of which are carnivorous, the Tasmanian devil being the largest of this group (family Dasyuridae). About 70 species live in the Americas, mainly in South and Central America, but one, the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), ranges through the United States into Canada. The largest living marsupial is the red kangaroo (Macropus rufus), males of which can grow to about 2 metres (6.6 feet) in height, 3 metres (10 feet) from muzzle to tail tip, and a weight of up to 90 kg (about 200 pounds). The smallest are the planigales (see marsupial mouse), especially Planigale ingrami, measuring barely 12 cm (4.7 inches) in total length. The vast majority of marsupials range from the size of a squirrel to that of a medium-size dog.

Structural and behavioral parallels with placental mammals are in some cases quite striking. Such resemblances are examples of convergent evolution, a tendency for organisms to adapt in similar ways to similar habitats. Thus, there are marsupials that look remarkably like moles, shrews, squirrels, mice, dogs, and hyenas. Others are the ecological counterparts, less in structure than in habits, of cats, small bears, and rabbits. Even the larger grazing marsupials, which resemble no placental mammal at all, can be thought of as filling the same ecological role (niche) as deer and antelope found elsewhere. The niches that marsupials fill are closely associated with structure. The burrowing species, such as the marsupial mole and the wombats, have powerful foreclaws with which they can tunnel into the ground for food and for shelter. Terrestrial forms, such as the kangaroos and wallabies, possess well-developed hind limbs that serve both as formidable weapons and as catapults by which they can bound over the plains. The gliders have a membrane along either flank, attached to the forelegs and hind legs, that enables these arboreal animals to glide down from a high perch. A few marsupials, such as tree kangaroos, koalas, and some species of cuscus, spend most of their lives in trees. The water opossum, or yapok (Chironectes minimus), of Central and South America is semiaquatic.

The diets of marsupials are as varied as the niches they occupy. Many dasyurids live chiefly on insects and other small animals. Dunnarts (genus Sminthopsis) are so hyperactive—like shrews—that, to supply their high energy needs, they must devour their own weight in food (chiefly insects) each day. The numbat uses its remarkable wormlike tongue to lap up termites and ants. Many Australian possums, bandicoots, and American opossums have a mixed diet of plant matter and insects. Wombats and many other marsupials are strictly vegetarian. The small honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus) is specialized to feed on the nectar of flowers, and other marsupials too may serve as important pollinators in this way. Few large carnivores have ever evolved in Australia, because of the low productivity of its environment. The most recent large carnivorous marsupials, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) and the now-extinct thylacine, or Tasmanian wolf (Thylacinus cynocephalus), were both displaced on the mainland by the dingo.

The marsupials are notably less intelligent than placental mammals, a fact that is attributable in part to a simpler brain. Compared with that of placentals, the brain of marsupials differs markedly in both structure and bulk. Most notably it lacks a corpus callosum, the part of the placental brain that connects the two cerebral halves. In addition, the marsupial brain is smaller relative to overall body size; a quoll has about half as much brain tissue as a placental cat of similar skull size. It is not surprising, therefore, to find a repertory of behaviour that differs somewhat from that of placentals. One peculiarity that may stem from this underdevelopment is restricted vocal ability. Although marsupials are not entirely silent, few of them emit loud sounds of excitement or distress; apparently, none utters grunts of contentment or even cries of hunger when young. What vocalizing they do is more limited and less variable than that of placentals. The ferocious-sounding rutting roars of male koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) are a dramatic and unexpected exception.

There seems to be little permanent social organization among most marsupials beyond the short-lived pair bonds during mating. Many of the grazing marsupials, such as the kangaroos and wallabies, move in feeding groups called mobs, but these associations are not true social groups, as there is no attention paid to any leaders or elders. Only the lesser gliders (genus Petaurus) are known to have permanent, cohesive social groupings.

The life cycle of marsupials exhibits peculiarities that have long been considered primitive compared with those of placental mammals but are more likely an adaptation to low-productivity environments. The uterine cycle of the female marsupial has no secretory phase, and the uterine wall is not specialized for the implantation of the embryos, although a transitory placenta does exist in the bandicoots. The period of intrauterine development in marsupials ranges from about 12 days in the bilby (Macrotis lagotis) to 38 days in the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor). The young, born in a vulnerable embryonic condition, make their own way to the shelter, warmth, and nourishment of the pouch; in pouchless marsupials the young simply cling to the teats. Those fortunate enough to survive this arduous journey may succeed in attaching themselves to the mother’s nipples, which then swell and become firmly fastened—almost physically fused—to the mouth tissues of the young. In this condition the young continue their development for weeks or months, after which they are weaned and begin to look after themselves. Frequently the partially developed young outnumber the available teats, and the excess individuals perish.

Paleontology and recent history

Fossil evidence indicates clearly that the marsupials originated in the New World; although the oldest fossils referable to marsupials are found in North American strata from the Late Cretaceous Period (99.6 to 65.5 million years ago), it is probable that South America is equally or more likely their place of origin. Their presence in Australia and nearby islands is thought to have occurred as a result of a single migration event in which a group of ancestral marsupials colonized Australia using presumed land connections with South America via Antarctica. Whether this took place before the rise of the placental mammals or whether placentals also reached Australasia but died out early on is a subject of lively controversy. By about 65 million years ago, Australasia was isolated from all other continental masses, and here marsupials evolved into many diverse forms, some of which apparently rivaled the mastodons in bulk. In South America they survived alongside placentals, forming a significant part of the Neotropical mammalian fauna. Marsupials briefly populated Europe, Asia, and North Africa.

In Australia it is disputed whether aboriginal hunting, and particularly burning of the landscape, contributed to the disappearance of several large species (megafauna) during the Pleistocene Epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago). It is certain, however, that Europeans brought methods of hunting and trapping, large-scale land clearing, and the introduction of foxes, rabbits, cats, and sheep, which soon drove several species of kangaroos and bandicoots to extinction. Many others, including the koala and the Tasmanian devil, were driven close to the same fate. Through human agency, however, marsupials have been introduced to nearby islands of Australia and especially to New Zealand; in New Ireland the grey cuscus (Phalanger orientalis) was introduced more than 10,000 years ago, and the same species was transported to Timor more than 4,000 years ago. In Australia the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) is an example of a marsupial that has readily adapted to changing conditions brought about by people, having become plentiful in some urban centres. Its adaptability to different locales is attributed to its tolerance for a variety of food, including household refuse. The Virginia opossum has experienced similar success in North America for the same reason.

Classification

Marsupials share with other mammals the presence of hair and mammary glands. In the female reproductive tract, however, there are twin vaginae that open into a common cavity (the urogenital sinus). This cavity empties into a short cloaca that is shared with the intestinal tract. In the male, the testes are in front of the penis. Other marsupial features include certain patterns of skull bones, the usual presence of large openings (fenestrae) in the palate, and the presence of an inturning of the bone around the angle of the jaw (gonial inflection), forming a shelf. Differences also exist in the dentition and in the arrangement of digits of the feet. The other systems of the body are similar to those of the placentals.

The major divisions among marsupials are as deep as those among placentals, an idea first presented in 1964. As a result, the order Marsupialia was later raised to the rank of infraclass under the name Metatheria and divided into two superorders, Ameridelphia and Australidelphia.

Infraclass Metatheria (marsupials)250 or more species in 2 superorders further divided into 7 orders. All are found only in Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands (introduced by humans to New Zealand) or in the Americas. Oldest fossils date to the Late Cretaceous of North America.Superorder AustralidelphiaNearly 200 Australasian species and 1 South American species in 5 orders.Order Diprotodontia116 or more species in 10 families. Primarily herbivorous. Family Macropodidae (kangaroos, wallabies, wallaroos, tree kangaroos, pademelons, and the quokka)54 or so 65 species in 10 11 genera. Primarily terrestrial. Medium to large in size and adapted for jumping, with long hind legs and a long tail for balance. Main digit in hind foot is the fourth. Extinct giant forms occurred during the Pleistocene.Family Phalangeridae (cuscuses and brushtail possums)15 species in 6 genera. Squirrel- to cat-sized arboreal species.Family Pseudocheiridae (ringtail possums and greater glider)15 or so species in 5 genera. Arboreal prehensile-tailed marsupials with complex ridged teeth. Family Petauridae (gliders and striped possums)10 or so species in 3 genera. Terrestrial and arboreal. First and second digits of the forelimbs are opposable to the other digits. Molars adapted for chewing leaves. Family Potoroidae (rat kangaroos)10 or so species in 4 genera. Similar to the macropodids but smaller, shorter-footed, and living mainly in undergrowth. Includes potoroos (Potorous) and bettongs (Bettongia). Family Burramyidae (pygmy possums)5 species in 2 genera. Primarily arboreal, mouse- to squirrel-sized. Family Vombatidae (wombats)3 species in 2 genera. Related to the koala (family Phascolarctidae).Family Acrobatidae (feathertail glider and feathertail possum)2 species in 2 genera. Tiny arboreal nectar feeders. Family Tarsipedidae (honey possum)1 species of southwestern Western Australia, adapted for feeding on nectar of flowers. Family Phascolarctidae (koala)1 bearlike arboreal species of eastern Australia. Related to family Vombatidae.Order Dasyuromorphia (carnivorous marsupials)60 or so species in 2 families, not including the recently extinct Tasmanian wolf, or thylacine, sole member of family Thylacinidae.Family Dasyuridae (antechinus, dunnarts, dasyures, dibblers, kowari, marsupial mice, marsupial shrews, ningauis, phascogales, planigales, quolls, and the Tasmanian devil)60 or so species in 15 genera widespread throughout Australasia.Family Myrmecobiidae (numbat)1 termite- and ant-eating species.Order Peramelemorphia (bandicoots and bilbies)22 species in 2 families.Family Peramelidae (Australian bandicoots and bilbies)10 terrestrial species in 4 genera resembling rodents, rat- to hare-sized. Restricted to Australia except for 1 genus (Isoodon), which extends to southern New Guinea; bilbies (Macrotis) are sometimes placed in a third family, Thylocomyidae. Family Peroryctidae (rainforest bandicoots)12 species in 4 primitive genera restricted to New Guinea and adjacent islands. Weight up to 7 kg (15 pounds).Order Notoryctemorphia (marsupial moles)Family Notoryctidae 2 species in 1 genus found in the deserts of central and western Australia.Order Microbiotheria (monito)Family Microbiotheriidae1 Chilean species. Molecular and morphological evidence strongly suggests a relation to Australasian rather than American marsupials.Superorder Ameridelphia (American opossums)75 or more species in 2 orders.Order Didelphimorphia (opossums)70 or more species in 1 family found in Central and South America, except for the Virginia opossum, which ranges as far north as southern Canada. Many species with unusual adaptations.Family Didelphidae (American opossums)70 or more species in 12 genera. Order Paucituberculata (shrew, or rat, opossums)5 species in 1 family.Family Caenolestidae5 species in 3 genera.